Wednesday, March 2, 2011

We are, it would appear, waiting in the breach for word on how Italian regulators will proceed in assessing their subsidies for solar energy technology.

In the breach, solar energy technology stocks were mixed, with First Solar (FSLR) shares falling $1.91, or 1.3%, to $145.46, and Ascent Solar (ASTI) down 31 cents, or 9.5%, at $2.96, while Sunpower (SPWRA) was up a penny at $17.24, and Trina Solar (TSL) was up 7 cents at $27.40.

The country’s Minister for Economic Development was apparently meeting with the environment Minister today. Gordon Johnson with Axiom Capital claims to have obtained a draft of the text of regulations coming out of that meeting.

Rather than showing a compromise, Johnson said today, the text seems unchanged from a version circulated over the weekend. The phrase “moratorium” is employed with respect to solar installations should an 8 gigawatt threshold be reached this year, Johnson claims....MORE